Windsor plant owner defends wage cut

A Windsor auto supply company has no choice but to cut workers’ wages by $3 an hour if it is to survive, one of the owners said Wednesday.

“We simply can’t compete with companies in Windsor and Michigan who are paying their workers less than $10 an hour,” said Branka Klinec, who owns Klinec Electric Services and Manufacturing with her husband, Paul. “We are mortgaged and borrowed to the max and we simply can’t compete at this level of wages.

“We never asked our workers for concessions even in the darkest economic times but this time, we were left with no choice if we were to keep going. We didn’t put a shotgun to anyone’s head. We asked that they work with us to keep the business going.”

More than 40 workers at the plant were asked Friday to sign a letter accepting a wage cut from $13.80 an hour to $10.75. Most refused and did not report to work on Monday, prompting a Tuesday protest by workers and their supporters.

Klinec and her husband declined to comment when contacted earlier in the week, but on Wednesday she defended the 30-year-old manufacturer’s hiring history in Windsor.

“We have hired many people who arrived here with just a suitcase in their hands and today, many own homes and have families,” said Klinec. “Many of our workers had been with us for as long as 18 years. Do you really think they would have stuck it out that long if this had been a sweat shop?

“We are not evil or bad people. We are just trying to keep our business afloat and provide employment for as many people as possible. We have sold our home and taken on added debt to try and not disrupt our business and our employee’s jobs. We have good and loyal employees and we have done our best to keep going.”

Klinec said that some workers had accepted the wage cut and returned to work.

On Monday when asked about workers allegations regarding health and safety issues, break times and other workplace issues, Paul Klinec declined to comment.

On Tuesday, he told CAW coordinator Ken Lewenza Jr., who tried to mediate acceptable return-to-work provisions, that he hoped to continue operating.

“This speaks to the manufacturing crisis in this country,.” said Lewenza. “We used to have trade agreements in place that required companies which sold here to build here. I have no doubt this company is struggling because he’s competing against suppliers who are paying less than he is.”